Political History and Its Impact on Political Development Today

Oriental Despotism
    Dynastic Rule

    No experience with democracy before 20th Century
    No "natural rights" tradition

Eastern Religious Traditions
    South - Islam, Hinduism
    East - Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Shinto
   
Hierarchy, natural order
    traditional societies
    no "reformation"
 
Until 20th C
    Communism
    rapid industrialization
    mass migration (rural to urban; transnationally)

Colonialism - See map 23 in Student Atlas
    negative experiences with "contact with the West"
    insularity, xenophobia
    import substitution vs. export led growth

Magstadt calls Asia the most diverse region in book

Diverse in what senses?

Ethnically
see Map 24 in Student Atlas
    linguistically - see Maps 9, 25 in Student Atlast
    religiously/culturally - see Map 8 in Student Atlas
    Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto

Geographically
Central Asia Republics (of the FSU)
Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Turnmenistan, Tajikistan, Krygyzstan

South Asia
Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh

Southeast Asia
Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines

North and East Asia
Russia, China, Mongolia, Japan, Korea

Developmentally
The region includes economically advanced Japan and some of the poorest countries in the world

Development Categories (see pp. 311-316)
 Japan – advanced, industrialized country
  In a category of its own for the region with the world’s second largest economy

  
 
Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs)
 Also called the Asian Tigers or Little Dragons
  Taiwan, Hong Kong (China)
  Singapore, South Korea (see table p. 312)

Patterned on Japanese Model
    Export-led growth
    State-directed investment

Investment in human capital
Export processing zones

   
Newly Exporting Countries (NECs)
Indonesia, Malaysia, Phillipines, Thailand, Singapore

Less Developed Countries (LDCs)
    Poorest of the poor – the south
    Myanmar, Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam

Results of State-led, Export Oriented Economic Growth
See Table 8.1

Uneveness of growth across region - See Table 7.4

Story Uneveness of Growth

Political Regime Types in Asia

Democracies
Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines,

    Most developed, stable Japan  
    but note tendency toward single party rule of the Liberal Democratic Party
   
    India
    also single party rule under the Congress Party

Authoritarian tendencies   
Singapore 

Marxist-Leninist states
    People's Republic of China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos 

Balancing Economic Development with Pressures for Democratization
Democracy movements over the 1980s and 90s in the Philippines, South Korea, China, Indonesia
           

Site on Tiananmen Square Massacre

Demographic Challenges
See Map 7 in Student Atlas

Population explosion as a by-product of development
longer life expectancy
lower rates of infant mortality

Story on Child Poverty in Asia

Separatist Movements/Ethnic Conflicts
Indonesia (East Timor), Sri Lanka, India